A funner runner

Who says the floors get to have all the joy? Give your home's stair risers a custom, sassy look with graphic carpet

For a cohesive look, interior designer Shelley Kirsch used a coordinating area rug in these homes to tie in the carpet on the stairs.

Photograph by: Andrew Filarski
, National Post

Hi Jeffrey,

Last fall my family and I moved into a new-build, twostorey home. At the time of purchasing, we upgraded to include hardwood staircases both up and down from the main floor. The basement is not finished but it's on our immediate to-do list. Though beautiful, the stairs are very slippery in socks and I'm afraid my youngest son will have a concussion if I don't cover them soon.

Do you have any great ideas for our staircase, keeping in mind we are a family of five not including Cash, our beloved golden retriever.

Thank you, Lauren.

Hi Lauren,

Your dog's name begs the question: Is he the namesake of a certain music legend or a reminder of what it takes to keep him fed and groomed?

Whatever the case, I assume your stairs are high traffic and you're not looking to install a cream-coloured runner.

As a designer, I periodically come across an idea that I wish I had thought of. Often it's the simplest idea that makes me say: "I can't believe I never thought of this" or "I can't believe I've not seen this before."

Such is the case with the stairwell pictured above on the left. Designed by Shelley Kirsch, this stair runner, made up of four different patterns, is spectacular. It's sophisticated, interesting and family friendly.

Ms. Kirsch says the staircase is such a "strong feature" of this home that she feels "the stair treatment needs to be bold and graphic at the same time."

Ms. Kirsch chose four complementary patterns in shades of grey and cream and had her rug installers join them together after they took a template of her client's staircase. Each piece was cut specifically for each stair, joined together and then bound with a three-inch leather-look binding. Be sure to source a reputable carpet retailer to do this for you. Cutting and seaming four different rugs will cost a little more because of the labour, but the design payoff will be huge.

And true to her message that a staircase is an opportunity to do something interesting, take a look at Ms. Kirsch's Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired runner in the photo on the right. With the help of Creative Matters, a custom carpet design company in Toronto, Ms. Kirsch created floral artwork for the stairs of a client's Craftsman-style house. I'm not suggesting with a family of five, a dog and a basement to finish that you are looking to invest in a custom woven runner, but I wanted this to get the creative juices flowing.

In both of her projects, the designer placed a co-ordinating area rug in the foyer that ties back to the carpet on the staircase. If you choose a bold patterned rug for your stairs, you may wish to do this too, and if you choose a plain runner, then liven the entryway with a patterned area rug.

Notice in both of these photos that the risers and stretchers are painted white and only the treads are hardwood. It's a great look but considering your new stairs are probably entirely hardwood, you may not want to commit to painting your risers. And depending on the width of your stairs, leave between four and six inches of hardwood exposed on either side of the runner, keeping in mind on the rail side that measurement starts from the inside of the rail.

After chatting with Ms. Kirsch I agree with her that far too often the opportunity to do something interesting in terms of dressing our stairs is underutilized. She has made me a convert to her school of thought that "the stairwell is the spine of the house and needs to be strong in either colour or pattern."

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